ANGELA B. PAN

Last Friday was a crazy weather day. It’s been a long time since I’d seen anything like it. All through out the day mother nature switched from cloudy to sunny, rain to snow and even sunny with snow! It was bananas just sitting in front of the window and watching it all happen. Especially since the changes would happen every 10 minutes. So around 4pm I looked out again and saw some amazing clouds. I was really hoping for a great sunset. Usually when we have crazy weather days like this, the skies really light up.

I met up with my friend, Zack, to shoot the sunset from the Tidal Basin. Half sunset shooting, half scouting the cherry blossoms. Unfortunately the skies didn’t light up like I was expecting but I had a great time shooting from a low point of view. When I say low, I mean so low that I wasn’t even able to see what I was shooting. It was really a guessing game but one that worked in my favor. The water in the tidal basin was so choppy, there was no way that I would of been able get a reflection from it. Then we found this amazing puddle. It made me see the skies and the clouds in a totally different way.

Most of the time I’m out shooting by myself. So it’s great to meet up with people who have some of the same interest as I do. I had complimented Zack on a similar picture he took of a puddle and he was kind enough to show me how he did it. It made me think about all the other amazing puddles that I could of gotten a great shot out of but just walked away because I didn’t try it. Oh well. At least now I know.

I thought it we were going to have an early spring? Like starting now. The weather in the DC area was so beautiful and warm last week. I was so ready to start pulling out my cute summer dresses and light jackets. Then it all turned over the weekend. I try my best not to complain in my personal life, but this is not good for many reasons. First of all, you’re messin’ with the flowers! The beautiful saucer magnolias blooms that I photographed last week, waiting for the peak, are all gone now. I’m pretty sure this cold weather will have a bad effect on the cherry blossoms as well but I hope not. Secondly, I think my body is confused. First it’s hot, then it’s cold then its hot again. I’m starting to feel the effects of the temperature change in my throat and head. Not fun.

So instead of going outside, I decided to sit in front of the computer and find an image that depicts how I feel. This one from Iceland describes it perfectly. It was along the main (and only) road from our drive in Reykjavík to Höfn. Along one of our million and one stops for horses, I came across this scene. The horses were the things that first attracted me to this image but then my favorite part is the huge cloud behind them. The road signs adds to my confusion of the weather but either way, I’m not liking the snow. Something so clean and neat perfectly shows what it’s really like on a road trip in Iceland.

I’m not sure if you can tell, but I’m not a big fan of being cold. Being in Iceland is different because it’s what’s expected, but not this see-saw rollercoaster of temperatures. End complaint. For now, mother nature.

Do you remember earlier this year when I posted this picture?

I was driving to my usual parking spot at the tidal basin paddle boats parking lot when I saw this. I quickly stopped even before I could see if anyone was behind me (luckily there wasn’t) and just stared at this scene. The fog simplified everything so much that it really became about the lines and shape of the trees and the monument. I immediately parked and ran back. I couldn’t let the fog go away. I think it presents a sort of creepy, Halloween-y mood, don’t you think?

I drive a coupe and those tires are horrible in the snow. I’m slippin’ and sliding all through my neighborhood so getting to DC would be terrible. So on snow days like this, I take the metro. It’s super convient because I live walking distance to a stop. But I never ride it more than when it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t know it’s just so much easier to hop in my car and drive myself. No waiting, no worrying about metro delays (cuz theres a lot!). This is the view you get when you get off of Foggy Bottom and walk towards the Lincoln Memorial.

CRAZY foggy morning last week. I was so excited when I saw this. I’ve NEVER seen the monument like this before.

So, a lot of people have been asking me where I was standing when I shot this. Its funny because I was just standing at the Tidal Basin. Nothing really special or unusual. So many people commented thinking that I was up in the air somewhere, flying a drone or maybe even at the old post office. Nope. Just standing on beautiful planet earth when I captured this.